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(No Model.)

, G. TROXLER, Jr. PASTBNER FOR secueme THE ENDS 0F LAGIN'G nouns 0NSHOES, &e.

No. 459,160. Patented Sept. 8, 1891.

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Ens cm, mum-um UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVUS TROXLER, JR, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGUOR OF ONE- HAIJF TOISAAC L. SILVERBERG, OF SAME PLACE.

FASTENER FOR SECURING THE ENDS 0F LAClNG-CORDS 0N SHOES, dc.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,160, datedSeptember 8, 1891. Application filed May 29,1891. Serial No. 394,891.(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, GUSTAVUS TROXLER, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fastenersfor Securing the Ends of Lacing-Cords on Shoes, &c.; and I do herebydeclare the following to be afull, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The general class of inventions to which the herein-described devicerefers is a holding attachment or fastener, to which the free ends of ashoelace are attached, which is used to retain the ends of thelacing-cord in the lacing-studs of a shoe, thereby avoiding thenecessity of tying the same together, as is the usual custom, and alsothe annoyance caused by the want of any suitable means for fastening thesame.

The improvement herein described is designed to effectually perform thefunctions of a lacing-cord fastener, which may be used on any shoe, withnothing to mar the outward appearance thereof, and which, by reason ofits construction, will permit of a great variety of design andornamentation.

The invention consists of the application of a fastener to the ends of alacing-cord for shoes provided with a springactuated wheel, so thatafter the foot has been placed in the shoe the latter can be laced up inthe usual manner and the meeting edges of the upper thereby broughttogether down the front of the foot, when the remaining port-ions of thecord projecting from the two upper lacingstuds will be drawn into thecasing of the fastener by the action of its spring-actuated wheel, andthe fastener assumes its holding position at the top of the shoe.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which similar letters ofreference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in each of theseveral views,Figure1 isa perspective View of a shoe laced up in theusual manner, the ends of the lacing-cord being provided with thefastener, whereby the same are securely held in their positions on theshoe. Fig. 2 is a top view of the fastener. Fig.3 is a side view of thesame, and Fig. l is a back View of the same. Figs. 5 and 6 are views ofthe fastener with the back plate detached, clearly illustrating a brakemechanism in its operative and inoperative sliding engagement with acentral post for locking or unlocking the spring-actuated wheel or reelin the desired position. Fig. '7is an enlarged sectional view of thefastener, taken on line a: in Fig. 3, clearly illustrating thearrangement of a springactuated wheelor reel and the manner of securingthe free ends of the lacing-cord thereto. Figs. 8 to 1-I,inclusive,areviews of the several parts of the fastener detached to illustrate moreclearly the construction of the same.

The essential and elemental features of the fastener illustrated in theabove-described views are a head portion or face a, a back plate I), andan intermediately-arranged wheel or reel 0, adapted to rotate on a postor shank a on the inner side of said face plate. The face plate a may beprovided wit-l1 an ornamental plate a secured thereto in any c011-venient manner, such plate being illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

As will be seen from Figs. 3, 7, S, and 9, the face plate a, which ispreferably struck up from sheet metal, has formed thereon the arms andis provided with a centrally-arranged tongue or post a, all of whichproject out at right angles from said face plate, as shown in Fig. 9. Tosaid arms a is secured the back plate Z), which is provided withperforations I), (see Fig. 10,) and through the perforations the ends ofthe arms a are forced and turned over upon the back plate, as at a inFigs. 3 and 4. The tongue or post a projecls out from the inner surfaceof said face plate to within close proximity of said back plate, andupon said tongue or post is arranged the wheelorreelc. Said reel 0 canalso be made of sheet metal and struck up by means of a die into theshape illustrated in Fig. 12, being provided with a central hole 0 andthe short radial arms 0 and the longer arms 0 Said arms and c are bentat right angles to the body-plate, as in Fig. 13, and the free any twoof the arms a on the face plate and ends of the arms 0 are made toproject through perforations d in the plated, (shown in Fig. 11,) andsaid ends are turned over upon said plate d, as at o (Shown in Fig. 3.)The shorter arms 0 which project up against the inner surface of theplate 01, help to stiffen the device, and by this construction a wheelor reel 0 has been obtained, which can be arranged upon the tongue orpost a, as will be evident from Fig. 7. To said central post a and toone of the said arms 0 a spiral spring g is attached, preferably in themanner as illustrated in said Fig. 7, the operation of which andthereason therefor willbe described hereinafter.

As will be seen from Fig. 3, the free end a of the tongue or post aprojects entirely through the plate d, and upon said plate (1, betweenthe same and the back plate b, I have arranged a sliding brake-lever c,provided with a longitudinal slot e ,by means of which said lever ismade to embrace'the end a of the post a. Said lever e is also providedwith a finger-piece e and adownwardly-projecting tongue or projection 0which can be thrown into and out of engagement with cut-away portions don the plate cl, as will be seen more especially from Figs. 3, 5, and 6.

The several parts of the'fastener are secured in the manner just abovedescribed, and the whole device assumes the appearance illustrated inthe side elevation in Fig. 3.

When it is desired to attach the fastener to the ends of the shoe-lace,all that becomes necessary is to pass the free ends f between insertthem between the arms 0 and c of the wheel or reel 0, as shown in Fig.7, and by simply knotting the ends of the lace the latter'will besecurely held in position on the reel, and the knots will be housedwithin the inner part of the reel and out of the way. The action of thespring g causes said lacing-cord to be wound upon the reel 0, as will bereadily understood.

Now when the shoe is to be laced up all that is necessary is to pull outthe lever e, which causes the disengagement of the tongue or projectionc from one of the cut-away portions 61 on the plate d, and by holdingthe fastener in one hand and pulling upon the cord the latter isunreeled in the direction of arrow y, (shown in Fig. 7,) which causesthe spring 9 to become wound tight. After a suflicient length oflacing-cord has been pulled out the brake-lever e is again pushed in,which locks the reel in this position. The lacing-cord can then bearranged around the lacing-studs h on the shoe-upper in the usualmanner, and after havinglaced up theshoe and arranged the cords aroundthelast two lacingstuds the brake-lever e is again pulled out and theaction of the previously-tightened spring g, by tending to resume itsnormal position, causes the reel cto rotate in the direction of arrow1/, thereby winding up the cord until the fastener is in close contactwith the last two and upper lacing-studs on the shoe, where it assumesthe position indicated in Fig. 1 and tightly secures the ends of thelacing-cord in this position upon the shoe.

In order to prevent the possibility of the shoe-lace from becomingdetached from the upper lacing-studs orfrom partly unwinding from thereel while walking, said brake-lever is again forced back into thedevice, causing the tongue 6 to lock with said plated, thereby firmlysecuring the device and effectually preventing the detaching thereoffrom the lacing-studs.

The arrangement and construction of the reel and the spring which iscaused to wind and unwind the lacing-cord may be varied according to therequirements of the size and form of head portion or face plate to beused without departing from the scope of the present invention; but theconstruction herein shown is the preferred form.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a shoe, thecombination, with the lacing-cord thereof, of a fastening deviceconsisting of a head port-ion provided with a spring-actuated wheel orreel to which the ends of the lacing-cord are fastened for wind-- ingand unwinding the lace and securing it in position in the lacing-studsof the shoe, for the purposes set forth.

2. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing-cord thereof, of afastening device consisting of a head portion provided with aspring-actuated wheel or reel to which the ends of the lacing-cord arefastened for winding or unwinding the lace and securing it in positionin the lacing-studs of the shoe, and a brake mechanism adapted to locksaid wheel or reel in any position, for the purposes set forth.

3. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing-cord, of a fasteningdevice consisting of a face plate provided with arms projecting at rightangles therefrom, a back plate secured to said arms, acentrally-arranged tongue or post on said face plate, andaspring-actuated wheel or reel on said tongue or post, as and for thepurposes set forth.

4:. In a shoe, the combination, with the lacing-cord, of a fasteningdevice consisting of a face plate provided with arms projecting at rightangles therefrom, a back plate secured to said arms, acentrally-arranged tongue or post on said face plate and aspring-actuated wheel or reel on said tongue or post, and a brakemechanism adapted to lock said Wheel or reel in any position, for thepurposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereuntoset my hand this 28th day or May, 1891.

GUSTAVUS TROXLER, J R.

\Vitnesses:

FREDK. O. FRAENTZEL, M, H. CAMFIELD, Jr.

